Lunch by Haley

Haley asked if she could make her lunch for tomorrow. She made the entire thing by herself, with the exception of cutting out the flower stem/leaf. I did that part because she's not allowed to use sharp knives yet. But, she watched me closely - she knew exactly how she wanted it.

• 2 turkey, cheddar and honey mustard on whole wheat flower sandwiches (stacked). The center of the flower is cheddar and she decorated it with a purple food-safe marker.



• Cucumber flower stem with a piece of string cheese (for stabilization)



• Carrots with ranch



• Blackberries and raspberries with homemade flower picks**

** I made a whole bunch of different colors. Can't wait to show them to you. They turned out super cute!

GREAT JOB HALEY!!

One More Week...

One week from today we will be getting ready for the last day of school! ONE WEEK! I don't know about you but I can't wait for summer vacation. We're going to have so much fun.

But, alas, we still have a week to go. So, here's tomorrow's lunch:

• Turkey, cheddar and honey mustard on a whole wheat tortilla (Avery has a PB&J roll-up on whole wheat)


• Cheddar flowers


• Corn and purple cauliflower


• Blackberries and raspberries


• A Dove chocolate with almonds

*~*~* Happy Memorial Day! *~*~*

We're headed to the pool this afternoon. After all the snacks we enjoyed during the parade this morning, no one was ready for lunch yet. So, I packed some quick bentos to eat during the swim break at the pool. (Yea summer!!)

• 1.5 sandwiches (Haley has turkey, ham and cheese with honey mustard and Ave has PB&J). They each got 1 and a half because there wasn't quite enough sandwich to make 2 full stars but there would have been too much scrap to waste if I only made one. I put the half on the bottom and stabalized the top sandwich with a half of a cheese stick. The stars on top are dyed provolone.


• Carrots with ranch


• Cherries (pre-pitted)


• Hershey kisses

Not sure what's up with Blogspot...

Hey everyone, I just wanted to put up a quick post to say that I'm having trouble commenting on my blog (as well as any others). I'm not sure what the deal is. I know some other people are having this problem too. But, obviously not everyone is since some of you have left me comments. THANK YOU for the comments! I love reading them. You guys are quite a boost to a girl's ego ;)

Hope you are all having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

O.W.L. Camp!

Tomorrow, the 2nd grade goes to camp! Well, at least they are hosting a camp for the next 4 days during school. Everyone is looking forward to O.W.L (Ohio Wildlife Learning) Camp so I made a themed bento to start things off!

• Turkey and veggie cream cheese on a whole wheat sandwich thin. The owl is made from provolone, cheddar and icing eyes.



• Red grapes



• Broccoli with "camp" picks



• Pretzel and cheddar campfire (flames decorated with food safe markers)

and for dessert

• S'mores, of course! (golden grahams, mini marshmallows, and milk chocolate chips)

Check out What's for Lunch Wednesday for other cute lunch ideas!

Game On!

Today has been a super busy day. I was not "feelin' it" tonight when it came time to make lunches for tomorrow. So, I went with "quick and easy" for tomorrow. But, the girls have been eyeing these picks since I bought them so I know they will get a kick out of this lunch:

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  2 PB&J "dice" sandwiches (stacked) with cheddar accents


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  Carrots with ranch


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  Cheddar cheese cut to look like dice


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  Cherries


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  Hershey kiss

Trio

My new LunchBots Trio arrived in the mail today so you know I had to bust it out for tomorrow's lunch! I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in what I came up with for my Trio's debut. But, that's ok...it will taste yummy and I have plenty of time to experiment with the box.

• Ham and herb cream cheese roll-up made with a whole wheat tortilla


• 2 strawberries and 2 blackberry/raspberry kabobs


• Carrots with ranch


• Babybel cheese


• Hershey Kisses
  

Angry Birds

I've seen some adorable "Angry Birds" bentos out there. I decided to try my hand at making my own and this is what I came up with.

• 2 sandwiches cut into rectangles, stacked. (Haley has turkey, cheddar and honey mustard and Avery has PB&J, both on whole wheat). The "Angry Birds" characters are made from dyed provolone, cheddar, cucumber peel and carrot accents.




• Cucumber and tomato slices




• Blackberries and raspberries




• Hershey kisses

Check out What's for Lunch Wednesday for other lunch ideas!

Chasity, for some reason my blog isn't allowing me to post comments. So, I'll respond to your comment here. I'm so glad you found my blog! Dying the cheese is super easy. I always use provolone. Just drop a few dots of liquid food coloring onto a slice of cheese and spread it out with a tooth pick. Let it dry a little before you try to work with it.If that doesn't make sense Kelly at "Crouching Mother Hidden Toddler" has a tutorial with pictures on her blog (see column to the right for a link to her blog). I'm sure your son will love it!

Monday's Lunch

Well, the fever bug hit our house at the end of last week. So, we had an unwelcome break from bentos. But, we're back!

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  Salami and herb cream cheese on a whole wheat mini bagel


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  Carrots with ranch


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  Greek pasta salad with Italian dressing


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  Cherries (pre-pitted)


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  Hershey kisses

100 Followers!

Yea!!! I hit the 100 followers mark! I'm not sure why that makes me so happy. But, I'm very touched that so many people are interested in my little lunches. Thank you all for taking the time.

Did you know I'm also on Facebook? Thanks again for your time and comments :)

Ladybug Picnic

I love lunches like this...I had NO idea what I was going to make until I looked through my pick drawer an saw this little ladybug pick. I am happy with the ideas that stemmed from it :)

• Turkey and veggie cream cheese on a whole wheat mini bagel (Ave has PB&J on her bagel) with provolone and cheddar to create the ladybug. 2 picks for her antenna and nori for eyes and mouth.


• Carrots and ranch (ranch is under the Babybel)


• Babybel ladybug (her face was made with food safe markers)


• Red grapes with a ladybug pick
  
  

Flowers and Bees

First, can I just say how excited I am that I'm only 2 followers away from hitting the 100 mark! That's amazing! I'm so touched that so many people have taken the time to check out my little lunches :)

Tomorrow's lunch was really quick and easy.

• Turkey and veggie cream cheese on a whole wheat mini bagel with provolone and cheddar flowers.


• Cherries (which I pitted)


• Cucumber slice flower with a grape tomato center and ranch


• Hershey kisses
  
  

A Hug For You

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  Peanut butter sandwich and honey on whole wheat with cheddar hands and provolone letters


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  Raspberries and blackberries


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  Broccoli


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  Milano cookie

3, 2, 1...BLAST OFF!

In honor of Monday's final launch of the Space Shuttle (provided it doesn't get delayed again), I made a space themed bento.

• 2 turkey, cheddar and honey mustard on whole wheat sandwiches (stacked) with a provolone and cheddar rocket and cheddar stars. Letters are dyed provolone.



• String cheese (under sandwich)



• Cucumber slices with carrot moon and stars and a cup of ranch



• Cantaloupe stars with blueberries



• Hershey kisses
  

God speed to the crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour!

Check out What's for Lunch Wednesday for more ideas!

Off to the Circus...

Grandma and Grandpa are taking the girls to the circus tonight so I made them a quick circus themed bento to remind them of the fun to come!

• Salami and herb cream cheese on a whole wheat sandwich thin. Cheddar circus elephants, all in a line.


• Babybel cheese


• Broccoli


• Strawberry slices with blackberries


• Starburst

Under the Sea...

I am happy with how Avery's lunch turned out today. It's nice on days that she's home and I don't have to be confined to getting everything packed in the box.

I can't take credit for the inspiration for this one. I saw this picture on a blog awhile ago and saved it. Unfortunately, I have no idea where I saw it so I can't give credit to whomever came up with the adorable idea. Here is a picture of the original:

And my version, which is pretty close to the original:

• 2 peanut butter and honey on whole wheat fish sandwiches with icing eyes, cheddar stripes and blueberry air bubbles.


• Blackberry and raspberry stones


• Celery stick reeds with a peanut butter rock for dipping
  

More Flowers

Another spring time bento for another sunny spring time day :)

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  Salami and herb cream cheese on a whole wheat sandwich thin (halved and stacked). Provolone flower with a cheddar nose, accented with icing eyes and food markers.


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  Blackberry flower with a raspberry center.


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  Peas


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  Babybel cheese with a flower cut-out


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  Chocolate egg

Flowers and Butterflies

We've had 2 beautiful days in a row and I'm LOVIN' it! (How pathetic that it's May and I'm excited about 2 pretty days? But, with the rainy spring we've had, we'll take what we can get!)

Tomorrow's lunch reflects my happy spring mood :)

• Turkey and veggie cream cheese on a whole wheat sandwich thin, halved and stacked. (Ave has PB&J (not pictured). Provolone and cheddar butterflies


• Cheddar flowers


• Butterfly fruit salad (strawberries, mandarin oranges and blueberries)


• Cucumber and cherry tomato flower with ranch


• Hershey kisses

*~*~* Happy Mother's Day!! *~*~*

I hope all you moms out there have had a wonderful mother's day! I had a fantastic day. But, now I'm tired and was not feeling all that energetic about tomorrow's lunch. So, we ended up with another simple and easy one. It was inspired by Mother's Day, of course!

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  2 ham, cheese, and honey mustard on whole wheat sandwiches (stacked) with cheddar Mommy and Little Girl hearts with cucumber faces.


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  Blueberries


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  Carrots with ranch


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  Hershey Kisses

Ahhhh, organization....

I was starting to feel like cookie cutters were taking over my kitchen. I had one of these 3-drawer boxes to store them in. As you can tell (since I now have 4 of them!), it wasn't nearly enough space. So, here is my solution:

Unfortunately, my pantry isn't large enough to store all of these boxes. SO, my thought is this: I'm going to keep a box (or two if I can fit) in my pantry upstairs. I'm going to keep the other boxes in my basement (still accessible but not nearly as convenient as the pantry). But, because the drawers are all interchangeable with each other, as the seasons change, I can change out the drawers and bring the seasonably appropriate cookie cutters upstairs. Sounds like a good plan, right?!

Sweet and Simple

My goal for tomorrow's lunches was simple. They both turned out simple but they also ended up being almost completely different from each other, which I rarely ever do.

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  PB&J roll-ups


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  Orange slices


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  Cherry tomatoes


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  String cheese (halved and stacked)


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  Hershey kisses and a hershey's egg

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  Turkey and cheese roll-ups


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  Carrots with ranch


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  Blackberries and raspberries


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  Babybel cheese, with a butterfly cutout

Hugs and Kisses

As I mentioned in my post below, it's been a crazy busy week. So, tomorrow's lunch was quick and easy. It took less than 10 minutes to make but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

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  Salami and veggie cream cheese on a whole wheat mini bagel with "XOXO"s made from provolone and cheddar.


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  Steamed broccoli


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  Strawberry slices with a blackberry center


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  Babybel cheese with heart cut-outs


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  Hershey Hugs and Kisses

Pig Out!

Ever had one of those weeks? This feels like that week to me. I don't know if it's the endless rain and cloudy days or if its just because this is such a busy time of year but I feel like I'm going 100 miles per hour and not getting anywhere fast! But, lunch must go on!

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  2 PB&J "piggy" sandwiches on whole wheat (stacked) with cucumber features


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  Blackberries and raspberries


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  Spinach with Italian dressing and cherry tomatoes


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  String cheese

First Communion Cake

As I mentioned last week, my oldest daughter celebrated her First Communion this weekend. My mom and I made her cake. I was thrilled with how it turned out! Haley loved it!!

Many, many, many thanks for my mom!

Quick and Easy...

I've been doing our weekly grocery shopping on Mondays. It's nice not to have to do it on the weekend but come Sunday evening, there isn't much to pack in Monday's lunch. But, tomorrow's lunch was quick and easy thanks to some leftover pizza from Aunt Kim.

• 2 slices of leftover pepperoni pizza


• Cucumber and carrot slices and ranch


• Blueberries


• Strawberry yogurt


• Mini snickers